Improvement in knitting-machines



2 sheets -sheet 1.

A.: C. CAREY.

KNITTING MACHINE M41354. PatentedApr. 18, 1865.-

Jnveniar:

TViinesses 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. '0. CAREY. KNITTING MACHINE.

Patented Apr. 18, 1865'.

lPwenZor:

. UNITED i- STATES A. c.-oAnEY,o MALDEN, ASSIGNOR To SAMUEL A; 'naio'eonv, o'nnon PATENT I i CHESTER,MASSAOHUSETTS.

' im mes;e

Specification forming part'of Letters Patent No. 47,354. dated A ni -18, 1865.

To all whom, it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, A. O. CAREY, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Knitting-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description.

The nature of my invention consists in makin ga knitting-machine that is capableof knittin gtubul'ar work-- as,forinstance,for mittens, hose, &c.-in a thorough,rapid manner also, in widening and completing the hose, gaiter, cr'other similar article at "one operation and before it leaves the'maehine, but, in the case of. mittens knitting them complete with the exception of-Y the thumb, which may be formed and attached either by hand or by another machine.

To enable others smiled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed todescribc its construction and operation.

y In the drawings, Figurel represents an isometrical view of my machine Fig. 2, an isom'etrical view of part of the machine, Fig.3, a perspective view of the rear of the machine;

. Fig. 4, an elevation showing details of the snail-wheel and levers; Fig. 5, the jacquardshaft; Fig. 6, an adjustableweight used in threading up the machine and for keeping a,

may be operated-,- W(, a wheel attached to the main shaft 13 and driven by the belt d from the driving-shaft 4v WV, face gear-wheeldrivin g the small gearwheel w and the gear-wheel 0 on theopposite end of the same shaft, which gear (3 meshes into and gives motion to the ring-gear R, which is supported and held in position by means of four guides projecting into an annnlar groovc on its periphery. The, office of the ring-gear R maybe betterunder stood after a description ofthe needl s has been given N N are two independent series of needles. The needles of each series are parallel to each other and perfectly free tO IDOVB either in a body together or separately. Any one needle or any number may be .sentforward indepen ently of the others. Thesetwogseries o'fnec I dles may be in the same plane or in two; f planes; it is only essential that theflinesein i which the points of theneedles. stand, when all are alike forced either forward or back-Q j ward, shall be parallel witheachother. ,(The. form and construction oftheseneedlesmay be.

seen in Drawing No. 7.): The needlesinone a series are not exactly opposite to the corre-fl .j (spending needles of the other series, but areso I placed that when sent forward the needles of X one-series arebetween those of the other-se l ries. i

j J ,J are jacquardchains; r,jacquard1-sbafts 1 jf and j j" are slides attached to thefframclof the machine by means of screws in" such a manner that each of the jacquard arrangements may be driven backward andvforward.

This motion of the jackquards sends forward the two sets of needles. Each of the jacquard;

chains is made of an endless seriesof strips of thinmetal, perforated or left wholeyas )1 shown. It is carried forward by the roller.

y at one end and by the jacquard-shaft at the other, both being supported in bearin gs inthe slides j f andjf, the whole constitutinga sliding frame, and this chain "may berevolved .1 so as to bring an y particular strip onto the operative face of the jacquard shaft. 1 It will be seen that upon the character of the faces. of these jacquard strips or cards must depend l the number and the location of the needles sent forward, and'that at each quarter-revoof the jacquard-shaf t.

and forward with the aid of .the spiral spring 5''. Theothcr jacquard-frame is moved by similar levers and spring, with thesingle ex- 1 ception that on account of its diiferentpositions one lever is shorter than thecorrespond- 111g lever in the other. Either of these frames may be operated for any length of time with. the sameface-plate, or the face maybe changed at each motion; of the frame, or at intervals of 1 a anynumher of motions ofthe jacquard-frame,

that the articlebeing knit mayrequire.

Referring todrawings, Figs. 3 and4, I a ,now explain the action of that part of the ma.

chine which causes the jacquard-shaft to revolve. L L are levers pivoted at p and attached to the link 10, whichin turn is attached to lever k. Upon lever k is a pointed projection, k, (shown on Fig. 4,) which rests upon the snail-wheel N on ashort shaft secured to the inside of the main frame. As th snailwheel N revolves by the means hereinafter described the lever is, and consequently lev'ers L L, are raised and lowered thereby. When the snail-wheel N is in such a position that the lever it drops, that part 2 of the levers L L which hangs over the ends of the jacquardshaft, and causes it to turn a quarter-revothereon will come in contact with it, and consequently the shaft will be revolved one quarter-turn, thus changing the faceplate of the jacquard.

Referring to thawing Fig. 2, l'will describe the needlesandtheir motions. The numbersl '2 3 4 5 6 7 8.910 11 and 1'2 34'5' 6 7 S 9 10 11/ are the shanks of the needles. A single needle is shown in Fig.7. For convenience ofreference, I. will call that part of the needle S the shank, and the-part 'n the nib. I

l have already described the arrangement by which the needles are sent forwardthat is, by the jacquard-frame. Nowyin each revolution of thering-gear R the' pin P, thereon, (seen in drawing Fig 1,) comes in contact with the arm attached to the cross-head a, and thus causes it to' traverse'on the supporting-rods. B B, on which it slides by means .of sleeves'secured to the under side of said cross-head until the pin P has passed so far round as to slip off from the arm 1). Then" the cross-head a, with the thread-guide g attached centrally beneath and traversing witlrit, and inclines A andA, also attached thereto, stop and remain at rest until the pin.

1 COII1 (S round tothe armp on the opposite side of the cross-head a then the cross-head with its connected parts moves back. Now,

- 11 e movement of the cross-head, as we have seen, carries backward and forward the inclines A and A, which, pressing against thev nibs n n of the'needles, throws them back to the-position they were in before the jacquardfrarne had thrown them forward. This motion of the needles-that is,'forward by the jacquard frame and backward by, the inclinesis the regular action of the machine-after theloops are first taken'up. The jack E is attached to the incline Aby two screws through a slotin such a manner that the jack can be drawn up and be made inoperative. In commencing an article the use of thejack E is as follows: After the leftrow of needles is thrown forward the jackE is pushed down by hand;

then by turning the wheel 0 the cross-head a is made to move toward the operator. The incline A on the cross-head throws back the left-hand row of needles in succession, and the thread-guide g, passing over the needles at the same time, supplies them with yarn, and-the loops are formed on the needles. At the same time the jack E throws forward the needles on the right-hand side so far that the yarn wiil-catch on the hooks of a number of needles to correspond with the number of needles thrown forward on the left-hand side. Now the jack E, having performed its only duty, is raised, and the machine proceeds to work in the regular manner; The plate s, to which the guide 9 is rigidly attached, is attached to the plate a by means of screws through slots so that it is free to slide a limited distance. By

this means, though the plate a always moves backward and forward the same distance, the plate 8 and guide 9 may move comparatively a greater or less distance.- The 'distance through which the guide gmo'ves is regulated by the stop-screws'S and S. -The jacquard-frame is moved forward by cams c and i, shown on the drawing No. 3, which act through levers b b h h h, also shown on Fig. No. 3. The jacquard-frame is thrown back by the spring sf.- Attached to the bar or lever h, connecting the levers b and h, is apall, 1, (shown on drawing No. 4.) which works backward and forward and consequently revolves'the ratchet-wheel M, and the snail-wheel attached, one tooth or more at every motion.

In drawing No. 1,. S and S" are standards,

to hold the guides B and B. Band B- are bars actingas guides to the cross-head or plate a.

The drawing Fig. 6 represents an adjustable weight, which is detached from themachine and is used as hereinafter stated. his made in this caseof twelve small weights, in-

closed in a frame,'each weight having a hook.

in the upper end, and so arranged that one or' more, asmay be necessary, is free to act upon the thread to keep it at a proper tension.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The jacquard-chainand snail-wheel being in such position as isnecessary for the work to be done, the adjustable weight is threaded, as shown in Fig. 6, and passed up 'byhand between the two rows of needles on the machine, bringing the yarn in the hooks of the weight above the needles in themachine, the weight being of a proper width-for knitting the stocking or other article to be knit. The number of hook-weights corresponds with the number of needles in each row, and they are the same distance apartas the needles, so as that/when brought into action there'is a hook passed between each two adjacent needles. A sufficient number of needlesto knit the hand of a mitthrown forward by the jacquard on the lefthand side of the machine by turning the wheel 0. These needles run under the thread which is in the hooks ot' the weight.

The yarn from which the article is to be knit is passed through the guide g on the cross head, and drawn down between the rows of needles and held there by hand or a small weight, (I use for this purpose a short piece of wire with ahook on one end,) and after the needles from the left hand row are thrown forward the jack E is pushed down; then by continued tnruin g of the wheel 0, the cross-head is made to move toward the operator. The incline A on the cross-held throws back the left-hand row of needles in succession, and the threadguide g, passing over the needles at the same time, supplies them with yarn, and the loops are "formed on the needles. At the same time the jack E throws forward the needles on the right-hand side, so far that the ya] n from the thread-guide 9 will catch on the hooks of anumbcr of needles to correspond with the number of needles thrown forward on the lefthand side. Thus the loops necessary toknit the toe of a stocking or the tip of a mitten are all taken up and.

. mitten or stocking. The jack E, having performed its only duty, is then raised. The revolution of the wheel 0 necessary to take up the loops also causes the jacquard-shafts a" to make a quarter'turn, thus bringing over an.-

other link of the jacquard chainj, having the different perforation needed for the ncxtstage of the work.

If it is desired to make a very pointed toe or tip, it must be commenced by throwing torwardt'wo, three, or four needles-first on the left then on the right hand side--in the center of the rows of needles on which the loops are already formed. (On the machine which I now have in actual operation I throw out twelve needles in commencing the toe of a stocking.) Now, at each succeeding quarterrevolution of the jacquard shaft the number of needles thro-wn forward is increased by one or two until all the needles on which the loops have been taken up are at work, at which time the arms L L are thrown up by the snailwheel N and lever 7t, and the jacquard-frame eeasesto revolve; consequently the same number of needles is thrown forward at each motion of thejacquard until the hand of the mitten is knit as far as the thumb, or the foot of a stocking as far as the heel, at which time the snail-wheel has revolved far enough to allow the arms L L to drop, causing the jacquard to revolve again.

In knitting a mitten, when I arrive at the thumb the jacquard is revolved one quarter,

turn, and a number .of needles sutiicient-to form a thumb is thrown. forward on each side.

of the machine, inaddition to those already; at work, and a. small threaded weight is hung onto them, causing them to take their loops;

The arms L L are again raised by the snail-j wheel N, and the body of the mitten is knit.

of asufficient length, and removed t'rom rhe. machine by breaking the yarnout of i the threadguide g and turning the wheel 0, and

thus casting the stitches or loops froi nthei f needles; or by repeating-the above operation a number of thumbless mittcnsieau be knit m astring and separatedafterward. f

In knitting the tip of a mitten or thetoe of a stocking, the adjustable weight operates as follows: When the first row of loopsis formed the weight is cast off from the needles,-andis supported by the loops, after which, the con all parts of the work.

In-knitting a stocking, when the foot has been knit the jacquard commences to revolve; audthree, four, or more additionalpneedles, sufiicient to take up the stitches necessary for knitting the heel, are thrust forward into ac tion from each side ofthe machine, nextfto 15 These needles are y threaded up, and the loops formed upon them.

those already at work.

in a similar manner as heretofore described for commencing the toe of a stocking, for a j which purpose an additional adjustable weight,

like Fig. 6, is used. Having taken up the additional number of stitches necessary for-knitting the heel, the machine throws forward all the needles used in knitting the foot of the stocking, and next tothem, on each side, one

of those taken up fortoriningthe heel, adding one, taken up for forming the heel at each:

quarter-revolution of the jacquard-shaft until all the needles having loops upon them are thrust forward together, when the jam quard ceases to revolve, and the same number of needles are thrust forward at each motlon of the machine until the ankle is knitof sulficient length; then an additional needle is thrown forward on each side every four or five times round, thus widening the calf of the leg until it is of the desired width, when the same number of needles are thrown forward at each motion until the leg is of sufficient length. The thread is then broken off and the stocking removed.

What I claim as my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A knitting-machine so constructed as to M be capable of knitting the closed endor tip.

of a stocking or other tubulararticle, in the manner and by the means substantially as described.

2. The combination of the two rows of needles, in each of which every needle acts independently of the others, with the inclines A and A and the-jack E, as and for the purpose substantially as herein described. j 3. The ring-gear R, in combination with the moving arms 1 and p, the cross-head a, the

' slide 8, thread-guide g, and the inclines A A,

substantially as and -for the purpose described. 1

4.} The jack E, for the purpose of pushing and for-the purpose herein described and represented.

7. In combination with a, jacquard chain" or pattern, that has at times .a revolving or forward motion independent of its frame, and,

at times an uniform backward and forward motion with its frame,a scriesot' adjustable weights that are in active operation when the chain has its forward or rotary in connection with its backward and forwardmotiou, for the purpose of widening the work as it is beingknitted, and that are in passive'operation only when the chain has onlya uniform backward and forward motion for continuing; the work of uniform size or width, substantially as described.

A. 0'. CAREY. Witnesses: 1

A. B. S'roUGn'roN, HAVER FENERICH. 

